An excellent way to keep a perspective on the outcomes at Copenhagen.
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Muppets Officially on YouTube
Some great comic relief can be found at The Muppets official YouTube presence!
Opt-Out of Printed Phone Directory Delivery
A nice tip for reducing waste!
You can opt out from receiving printed those phone books (Yellow Pages, White Pages) that only ever seem useful for propping up things these days. Just send Sensis and email.
Print Directory Opt-out
You can choose not to receive specific Sensis directory print products by calling 1800 810 211, or emailing bookdelivery@sensis.com.au
More info here…
Back from Blogging Hiatus!
Movies: Gran Torino
Recently picked up Gran Torino at the local video store (on recommendation). Well worth watching!
Iran
Have been following the recent situation via
and Twitter!
Edit: Avaaz (Stop the crackdown) and Amnesty International (Iran must stop violence against election protesters) have weighed in with calls for action.
$8 Billion for High Speed Rail in the USA
The White House puts High Speed Rail into the spotlight in the US. About time.
“My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come,” said President Obama. “A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve. High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”
Should be a good thing for the well and truly in-progress plans for a HSR network in California (more at CalHSR blog).
The corridors designated are as follows.
Urban Sprawl Alternative
An interesting article by Frank Reale on the need to look at growth in regional areas as an alternative to ever expanding state capitals.
About half of Australia’s population is contained in five state capitals. The result is an over-urbanisation that is inefficient and requires the building of ever-expanding infrastructure, including transport, sewerage, water and energy supply, telecommunications and waste disposal.
Overall, the concept is radical but surprisingly inexpensive. Establishing six or seven small cities would cost about $1 billion, including land acquisition and basic first-stage infrastructure. Compared with the $38 billion price tag on Melbourne’s road “solution”, striking at the root cause of our urban problems comes at a very modest cost.
A little along the lines of a regular rant of mine. Cities the size of Melbourne can become unworkable. Compared to the Europe and the US, we are a little unusual in our capital-city-focus down here (even Michigan has a number of large cities – Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor).
Swanston Street Redevelopment Consultation
It has begun. Participate here… Open until May 8.
Habeas Corpus and State Secrets Privilege
Neither looking good on the ‘change’ front
More on Habeas Corpus a la Obama…
An intro from Rafe at rc3
Lots of detail from Glenn Greenwald at Salon
And some more here
A brief post at Crooks and Liars also
More here too
More on State Secrets Privilege…
Roth at TPM catches contradictions
An article from Washington Post
More at whorunsgov
Sigh…
OpenStreetMap
The Wikipedia of maps? OpenStreetMap is an interesting idea. Perhaps a little harder to get into than Wikipedia, but still. Seems quite good for bike paths and the like.
Victorian Cycling Strategy
A bit of fanfare from the Victorian Government with the release of their cycling strategy. Good to see them doing something, but still, it is hard not to be more than a bit skeptical. More around the interwebs…
Fair Trade Fortnight
Just saw something about Fair Trade Fortnight, which runs from May 2 to 17. More info at the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand.
Also, a timely reminder about Fair Trade chocolate (given that Easter is coming up). There are quite a few options around now including… Alter Eco, Chocolatier, Cocolo, Green & Black’s Maya Gold, Heritage Fine Chocolates, and Scarborough Fair Foods.
Lastly, worth a mention is Etiko, with their Fair Trade sports gear and fashion gear.
Maize Cafe in Thornbury
Had the opportunity today to stop in at our favourite cafe, Maize, in Thornbury. Excellent fare as always. Can be found at 709 High St. There is also a review at yourrestaurants.
Teaching Climate Change
Teaching Climate Change, an interesting resource from The Australia Institute (with the support of Australian Ethical Investment).
Beyond Zero Emissions
Beyond Zero Emissions is a Melbourne-based volunteer organisation focussed on helping us make the changes necessary to turn around the big-hulking-titanic-disaster-in-the-making that is climate change.
In their own words…
Our core goal is to facilitate the implementation of the social changes and technologies that will reduce the impacts of climate change and give our society, and today’s global ecosystems, a chance of surviving into the future.
We are involved in the following activities:
- education
- advocacy
- corporate campaigning
- political campaigning
- network building
- community campaign building
- research
- solution development
We differ from mainstream environmental groups by one very important point – we believe that we have already allowed climate change to go too far, and must act immediately to reduce our levels of greenhouse gas emissions to zero and below.
They are very action focussed, which is great for the many like myself who are unsure where to expend their energy in order to actually make a difference.
There are regular campaign meetings, monthly discussion groups, podcasts of their weekly 3CR radio broadcast and lots of other fantastic stuff.
An impressive effort. I’m looking forward to taking some time out to volunteer with them in the near future.
BestInClass, Digital Cameras
BestInClass is a nice review-aggregator site that helps you to select a digital camera based on a (nice, broad and even useful) range of criteria.
The Age of Stupid
Released in the UK today(ish). The Age of Stupid presents a perspective from 2055, looking back at 2008 and wondering why we didn’t do anything about climate change when we had a chance. An interesting fusion of drama and documentary. Starring Pete Postlethwaite. The film is accompanied by the Not Stupid campaign, aimed at building activism prior to the Copenhagen summit at the end of the year. Fantastic idea. Here’s hoping it makes a difference!
Hepburn Wind Update
An update arrived in the mail the other day from Hepburn Wind. Looks like the project is going ahead. They raised almost $4million in capital from the share offer. They’re looking at various options for the remainder of the financing required, and will now accept further applications to purchase shares. News release here…
Soil Carbon
The Federal Government recently announced some initatives focussed around soil carbon.
Per LP.
It will be interesting to see how effective carbon sequestration in this form could be.
Avalon Airshow Flight Tracking
With the airshow on at Avalon this week, the Melbourne Airport flight activity tracker can provide some interesting viewing. You probably need to look at the historical data to find something interesting. Click on the plane icon and select ‘show static track’ to see more than a little bit of tracking. Here’s one example from about 1pm. Limited time offer! The historical data is only viewable for about 24 hours.
Paul Gilding’s Great Disruption
An interesting perspective on where we’re heading, The Great Distuption…
ETS Legislation
The ETS legislation has now been released… just as bad as the White Paper.
Seriously Not Happy Kevin (or Lindsay, Julia, Penny, Peter)!
More around the interwebs…
Here’s hoping the Senate Select Committee acheives something.
Update: More from Ben Eltham at New Matilda
Van Jones, Green for All
I’ve just come across Van Jones thanks to his appointment as Green Jobs Advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (thanks to Al Giordano). He has put forward some fascinating perspectives linking our response to the climate crisis with poverty and social justice.
Check out Green-For-All, which Van Jones launched in 2007.
Update. A talk featuring Jones on The Green Collar Economy.